Editing Zebu (section)

==Uses==
[[File:India.Mumbai.04.jpg|thumb|Draft zebu pulling a cart in [[Mumbai]], India]]
[[File:A day in the life of a rural 03.jpg|thumb|A villager with a decorated bull during Pongal festival]]
Zebu are used as [[draught animal|draught]] and [[riding animal]]s, [[beef cattle]],  [[dairy cattle]], as well as for byproducts such as hides, [[Feces|dung]] for [[fuel]] and [[manure]], and horn for knife handles and the like. Zebu, mostly [[Miniature Zebu|miniature zebu]], are kept as [[pet]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=One of the Oldest Cattle Breeds |url=https://www.amzaonline.org/one-of-the-oldest-cattle-breeds/ |website=American Miniature Zebu Association |access-date=2 December 2019}}</ref> In India, the number of draft cattle in 1998 was estimated at 65.7 million head.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phaniraja |first1=K.L. |last2=Panchasara |first2=H.H. |year=2009 |title=Indian draught animals power |journal=Veterinary World |issue=10 |volume=2 |pages=404–407 |url=https://www.veterinaryworld.org/Vol.2/October/Indian%20Draught%20Animals%20Power.pdf }}</ref>
Zebu cows commonly have low production of milk. They do not produce milk until maturation later in their lives and do not produce much. When zebus are crossed with taurine cattle, milk production generally increases.<ref name=Mukasa-Mugerwa/>

In [[Madagascar]], zebu outnumber people, and there are an "astonishing" 6,813 [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]] proverbs, common sayings, and expressions referring to zebu in parlance on the island.<ref name=Combeau-Mari2011>{{Cite journal |last=Combeau-Mari |first=E. |date=2011 |title=Traditional Fighting Practices: The Root and Expression of Malagasy Culture |journal=The International Journal of the History of Sport |volume=28 |issue=12 |pages=1566–1585 |doi=10.1080/09523367.2011.592749 }}</ref> Zebu are wrestled by young men in a competitive ritual of courtship called ''[[tolon'omby]]''.<ref name=Combeau-Mari2011/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ratsimandresy |first1=D.A. |last2=Rakototiana |first2=A. |date=2015 |title=Avulsion péno-scrotale par encornement de zebu |trans-title=Penile and scrotal avulsion caused by zebu horns |language=fr |journal=The Pan African Medical Journal |volume=20 |pages=91 |doi=10.11604/pamj.2015.20.91.5832 |pmc=4506798 |pmid=26213592 }}</ref>

Within the Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]], zebu are used for [[jallikattu]].

In 1999, researchers at [[Texas A&M University]] successfully [[Cloning|cloned]] a zebu.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cloning gives second chance for bull |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/437391.stm |work=BBC News |date=3 September 1999 }}</ref>

=== Hindu tradition ===
{{further|Cattle slaughter in India}}
Zebu are venerated in [[Hinduism]] of India. In the [[historical Vedic religion]] they were a symbol of plenty.<ref name=Jha2002>{{Cite book|last=Jha|first=D. N.|title=The myth of the holy cow |date=2002 |publisher=Verso |isbn=978-1-85984-676-6 |location=London|page=130}}</ref>{{rp|130}} In later times they gradually acquired their present status. According to the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', they are to be treated with the same respect 'as one's mother'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mahabharata, Book 13-Anusasana Parva, Section LXXVI|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b041.htm|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012075852/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b041.htm|archive-date=12 October 2013 |access-date=15 October 2013|publisher=Sacred-texts.com}}</ref> In the middle of the first millennium, the consumption of beef began to be disfavoured by lawgivers.<ref name=Jha2002/>{{rp|144}}

Milk and milk products were used in Vedic rituals.<ref name=Jha2002/>{{rp|130}} In the postvedic period products like milk, curd, ghee, but also cow dung and urine [[gomutra]], or the combination of these five [[panchagavya]] began to assume an increasingly important role in [[ritual purification]] and expiation.<ref name=Jha2002/>{{rp|130–131}}